About Ruthie Foster
Ruthie Cecelia Foster is an American singer-songwriter of blues and folk music. She mixes a wide palette of American song forms, from gospel and blues to jazz, folk and soul. She has often been compared to Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin. Foster has been nominated for multiple Grammy Awards for Best Blues Album and Best Contemporary Blues Album.
Foster is from Gause, Texas, and comes from a family of gospel singers. At the age of fourteen, Foster was a soloist in her hometown choir, and was certain that her future would revolve around music. After high school, she moved to Waco, Texas, to attend McLennan Community College, where her studies concentrated in music and audio engineering. She began fronting a blues band, learning how to command a stage in the bars of Texas.
Hoping to travel and gain a wider world perspective, Foster joined the Navy, and soon began singing in the naval band Pride, which played pop and funk hits at recruitment drives in the southeastern United States. Following her tour of duty, Foster headed to New York City, where she became a regular performer at various local folk venues. Atlantic Records got wind of Foster's talent and offered her a recording deal, with the intent of cultivating her as a budding pop star, but Foster wasn't interested in a pop career, preferring instead to explore the various strains of American roots music that had informed her childhood. When her mother fell ill in 1993, Foster left New York and her recording deal and returned to Texas to be with her family. She began working as a camera operator and production assistant at a television station in College Station, Texas, while she cared for her mother, who died in 1996.
In 1997 Foster self-released the album Full Circle, the success of which paved the way to a long relationship with the record label Blue Corn Music.
Blue Corn released the follow-up album Crossover in 1999, Runaway Soul in 2002, and Stages in 2004. Foster's next release was Heal Yourself in 2006, followed by the studio album The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster in 2008, which was produced by Papa Mali. In 2009, Blue Corn released The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, which was produced by Grammy-winning producer Chris Goldsmith and recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis. The Truth According to Ruthie Foster earned her a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album. A second album of Foster's live performances, Live At Antone's , was released in 2011. In 2012, Blue Corn released the studio album Let It Burn, which featured special guests The Blind Boys of Alabama, William Bell and the rhythm section of The Funky Meters, and was produced by Grammy Award winner John Chelew. Let It Burn earned Foster a second Grammy nomination, this time for Best Blues Album, and was the vehicle for numerous Blues Music Awards won by Foster.
Foster's awards list has grown in the last few years. These awards include three Grammy nominations ), her numerous wins at the Blues Music Awards, including three awards for Best Female Vocalist and one for DVD of the Year for Live At Antone's, and Foster's crown for Best Female Vocalist at the 2013 Austin Music Awards. In 2016, she was nominated for two Living Blues Awards and won the Koko Taylor Award for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist. Her list of honors also include a nomination from the Living Blues Awards for Best Live Performer.
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